There's No Pill for This by Michaël Friedman

Author:Michaël Friedman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing

Choose these herbs and supplements:

Lion’s mane mushroom

PQQ

Rosmarinic acid from rosemary

Curcumin or turmeric essential oils (turmerones) from turmeric

Quercetin

Biotin

Iodine

Thyroid hormones

Injections:

Peptide therapy such as thymosin beta-4

Increasing NGF and Promoting Remyelination

Because MS is a disease characterized by damage to the myelin sheath, remyelination can help to slow progression and reduce symptoms. Increasing levels of NGF in the body may hold potential as a way to promote remyelination. As of this writing, no pharmaceutical drugs are known to increase NGF. However, two classes of natural compounds, one found in a plant and the other derived from a mushroom, have been shown to promote the production of NGF in animal models. These compounds are turmerones, which are found in turmeric, and diterpene derivatives from the lion’s mane mushroom. In addition, the flavonoid quercetin has been shown to improve myelination, potentially through a different mechanism than NGF production. And vitamin B12 is a nutrient required for myelin synthesis.

Turmerone

Along with curcumin, turmerone is a major bioactive constituent of turmeric. Turmerone has anti-inflammatory effects, particularly against microglia. In addition, turmerone has been shown to promote the production of neural stem cells, which have the capacity to generate neurons and repair nerve damage, as discussed later in this chapter.

Lion’s Mane

This medicinal mushroom (Hericium erinaceus), which is also known as sheep’s head, gets its name from its resemblance to these animals. If you can imagine a large mushroom with long flowing white “hair,” that is what lion’s mane looks like. Lion’s mane contains many bioactive compounds, in particular hericenones and erinacines, that potentially have neuroregenerative and neuroprotective effects. Research indicates that these compounds help reduce amyloid-beta plaque deposition and help reduce neuropathic pain. One of the benefits of the compounds is that they can cross the blood-brain barrier, making them directly available to act on the central nervous system.

Lion’s mane has also been reported to promote the production of NGF in nerve cells and to protect nerve cells against damage from neuroinflammation caused by oxidative stress. Neurotrophic factors such as those found in lion’s mane are particularly important for maintaining the structure of neurons that produce the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.

Lab studies show that lion’s mane extract enhances myelination and improves nerve growth after brain injury. Lion’s mane is also protective to nerves when exposed to the toxins that induce Parkinson’s disease. Animal studies show that lion’s mane prevents memory impairment and reduces amyloid-beta plaque.4

Two small clinical trials have been conducted on lion’s mane. In one, adults with mild cognitive impairment took lion’s mane, in the form of a 250 mg tablet comprising 96 percent dry powder, three times daily for 16 weeks, and were shown to have significant improvement in cognitive function. Within a month of discontinuing the mushroom supplement, subjects’ cognitive scores declined. In a second study, postmenopausal women consumed 2 grams of lion’s mane per day for four weeks. They experienced a reduction of anxiety and depression as compared with a similar group who did not take the lion’s mane.5

Depending on potency, the therapeutic dose is up to 5 grams of lion’s mane per day.

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